Page 8 of Winter's End

Winter’s tired face broke into a wide smile, and she let out a shriek when I pulled her into my arms, squeezing her as tight as I could without crushing her, and spun her around in the move that was solely ours.

She wore an unfamiliar teal green velvet sweat suit—Hillary’s, I’d bet—with her hair in a messy bun and looked more beautiful than earlier in the day. More beautiful than I’d ever seen her.

Or maybe it was just me really seeing her for the first time.

“You’ve got to stop hogging, man.” Drew gently but firmly tugged on my elbow, then held her tight in his own arms before handing her off to Travis, who had his own snuggle before giving Cam a chance at a hug.

Right. Cam was now in on the party, too. I would not let the slight sting of jealousy ruin the moment. Winter’s eyes had shone when she told me they’d connected, and I couldn’t shit on that parade.

“Alright, harem.” Hillary came to the door, quirking an amused brow at the—well—harem of men in her doorway, and beckoned us inside. “Winter and Logan have some explaining to do.”

When we piled into the large open room, I took a split second to admire the ornate wooden beams and luxurious fur rugs. Then my eyes settled on Logan, seated on the far end of the large sectional centered in the room, his usually cocky gaze staring forlornly into the half-filled crystal whiskey glass in his hand.

I dropped into the seat next to him as the rest of our motley crew settled into the surrounding seats. As much as I wanted Winter nestled in beside me, I was grateful she had snuggled in between Drew and Travis on the shorter end of the couch. Cam sat down on the other side of Travis, his arm across the back of the couch, with his hand cupping the back of Winter’s neck.

My Snow was being taken care of; if it couldn’t be from me, I wanted it to be from them.

My attention turned back to the man beside me.

“Should you be drinking that, man?” I asked hesitantly, unsure of the protocol here. We weren’t friends, but he was part of the crew now. I didn’t want him falling off the wagon.

He looked up at me in startled surprise.

“It’s Pepsi,” he muttered, before taking another long draw of the liquid and setting the glass down hard on the coffee table beside him. “I can’t even take the edge off of this clusterfuck of a day.”

Hillary shot a sharp look in his direction as she sat across from us in an oversized arm-chair, not looking one bit like a Bridezilla. “You’ve sanded enough edges for a lifetime, Logan. Maybe you just need to get laid.”

Winter choked on apparently nothing and attempted to cover it up with an exaggerated cough.

“Okay, gaaang,” Hillary drawled the word as if it amused her. She looked around the room with raised eyebrows and a haughty tilt to her lips. “Spill.”

She shifted her pointed gaze to Winter.

“You’ve been keeping secrets, sweets. It’s time to share with the class.”

“I want to get to today, but sure, whatever,” Travis mumbled under his breath in an uncharacteristically snippy tone.

Winter brushed a kiss across his cheek. “I promise we’ll get there. Hillary’s going to be an ally here. And it isn’t just my story to tell.”

I felt an enormous sense of déjà vu as our story was shared with yet another person. First it was Travis, then Cam, then Logan, and now Hillary. I really hoped we wouldn’t have to tell it again.

Layer by layer, the short version of our story came out; each interconnected piece of Lego locking into place through a series of coincidences, and what seemed like fate.

I longed for the days of lighthearted road trips with Snow and boarding my troubles away. Our lives were getting too heavy to carry.

To her credit, Hillary didn’t interrupt once. I watched her facial expressions closely, not exactly sure how I felt about her being privy to all of our dark secrets.

But after her wedding was ruined because of our issues, I guess I couldn’t fault Winter for wanting to bring her up to speed.

“So, what happened today?” Hillary prompted once Winter had finished with the flash drive information. “Why did the FBI show up?”

Winter drew in a breath, and her gaze caught on Logan. I swung around to glimpse him myself, caught off-guard by the apprehension that smothered his face.

“Well, I think it’s fair to tell you all that Logan’s been an FBI informant for the past year. And”—her gaze landed on me—“he delivered your flash drive right to his handler. Today was a power show to remind us who’s in charge.”

I froze for a split second, my mind racing with all the evidence on that tiny piece of metal—evidence that could bury my father and ruin his life.

“The fuck, man?” I leaped up, feeling betrayed and now straight-up stupid for trusting Logan in the first place.

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